Concrete casting apparatus

ABSTRACT

A matching pair of, preferably, arcuate form walls are supported upright in spaced-apart relation on a casting bed. The ends of the space enclosed are gated. At least one of the form walls is pivotally connected to the supporting structure by links that, when lateral pressure on the wall is applied, cause the wall to swing and withdraw from a freshly formed casting between the form walls. At the same time, raising of the form walls is initiated, to, in part, strip them from the casting and, eventually to raise them high enough that they may be moved over and past the just formed casting to a new location on the casting bed.

United States Patent Kamb et al.

154] CONCRETE'CASTING APPARATUS [72] Inventors: Roy A. Kamb, 660 South Dakota Street, Seattle, Wash. 98108; Tyman H. Fikse, 1459 Loraine Street, Enumclaw, Wash. 98022 [22] Filed: Dec. 31, 1970 [21] Appl.No.: 103,040

[52] US. Cl. ..249/34, 249/11, 249/154,

249/162 [51] Int. Cl ..E04gll/06 [58] Field of Search ..249/160l62, 168,

249/170,154, 209, 139, 178,11, 33, 34; 25/121 A, 121 R, 122, 124, 130 A, 131.5 A, 131.5 D, DIG. 26; 425/47, 450, 39, 424, 456

[451 Nov. 21, 1972 Witthoefit ..25/l31.5 D Eid ..249/l54 X [5 7 ABSTRACT A matching pair of, preferably, arcuate form walls are supported upright in spaced-apart relation on a casting bed. The ends of the space enclosed are gated. At least one of the form walls is pivotally connected to the supporting structure by links that, when lateral pressure on the wall is applied, cause the wall to swing and withdraw from a freshly formed casting between the form walls. At the same time, raising of the form walls is initiated, to, in part, strip them from the casting and, eventually to raise them high enough that they may be moved over and past the just formed casting to a new location on the casting bed,

10 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEDnum m2 SHEET 1 0F 2 4.55 WM AP M M w W CONCRETE CASTING APPARATUS SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention is concerned with apparatus to produce cast concrete ring segments useful, when assembled in ring form, to line tunnels and to form cylindrical passages or conduits usually in the earth. The casting of ring segments of concrete present problems of assembling and and stripping the necessary forms and of their transport from point to point on a casting bed or floor. It is desirable that the production of such segments be conducted as a semi-continuous operation since such segments are usually used in great members particularly when an extended tunnel is being lined or a lengthy conduit is being built. It has been a major object of this invention to'mechanize the form assembling and stripping operation to provide a form which is quickly re-usable, which requires a minimum of manpower, and which may be accurately assembled, filled or poured, and stripped with great speed from a casting while the same is just minutes old.

IN THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is view in plan of concrete casting apparatus of this invention with appurtenances shown in phantom for convenience of illustration;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view on line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in a shifted relationship;

FIG. 4 is a rear face of an arcuate form wall;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged detail of enclosure means for the form walls; and

FIG. 6 is a detail of a form wall seal.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The concrete casting apparatus is suspended from a deck or platform comprising rugged fabricated, weldment beams 10 and 12 extending laterally between side frames 14, 14 extending longitudinally of a vehicular structure (not shown) capable of over-the-ground movement. Raising and lowering of the deck or platform relative to the ground is also provided.

Columns 16, I8 and depend from beam 10, and columns 22, and 24 depend from beam 12. The latter has an arcuate extension 13 that usually constitutes a working deck for the operators above the casting and forming apparatus.

Referring to FIG. 2 column 16 has upper flange 26, between resilient annular members 28, 30, and is flexibly secured by bolts 32 to the underside of beam 10. Columns 18, 20, 22 and 24 are similarly elastically mounted on the supporting structure. Column 16, and the others as well, has a rubber foot pad 34 which rests on the ground surface G during casting operations.

A pair of arms 36, 36 stand out from column 16 and hinge links 38 are pivotally coupled thereto by pins 40. Similarly columns 18, 20, 22 and 24 by means of their arms 36 support links 42, 44, 46 and 48 respectively.

The form walls 50 and 52, in this preferred form, are shown as arcuate, standing upright, and spaced-apart and opposed as in FIG. 2. During pouring they stand on the ground or casting bed G. Each of the form walls comprises a panel or plate 54 shaped to the desired arc and back-supported or stiffened by horizontal ribs 56 and vertical ribs 58, as seen in FIGS. 2 and 4.

With respect to the casting operation, outer wall 50 is concave and inner wall 52 is convex. During concrete casting the inner surfaces of the two walls are concentric so that a casting formed therebetween will have a uniformthickness in both directions. In the instance shown herein the length of the space between the walls comprises one-quarter of a circle. For comprehension, the height of walls 50, 52 for a typical casting is four feet and the circumferential length of the casting at its widest dimension is approximately 15 feet. During casting walls 50, 52 are spaced 8 inches apart. Four cast concrete ring segments 60 may be assembled to form a ring substantially 22 feet in diameter. As best seen in FIG. 4, the upper ends of the form walls overhang the lower ends so that the resulting cylindriform ring segments are in effect wedge-shaped. A ring formed of four such segments has two opposite rings with their narrower dimensions disposed in one common direction. The intervening segments are interposed in opposition.

Ears 62 on the outer surfaces of walls 50, 52 are coupled to the links 38-48. Pins 64 pivotally connect the links and ears together.

Each wall 50 and 52 is laterally movable relative to a cast concrete segment 60 and, during such movement is caused to pull away or withdraw from the segment as shown in FIG. 3. This action is obtained through makinglinks 38, 42 and 44 progressively shorter. Links 46 and 48 are also progressively shorter asshown.

Contraction of hydraulic link between an ear 5] on wall 50 and an ear 72 on column 20 produces the lateral shift of wall 50 (to the right as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3). Similarly contraction of hydraulic link 74 between ears 76 and 78 produce the shifting of wall 52 (to left as shown).

Vibrators 80 are mounted on the outer sides of walls 50, 52. The preferred arrangement of assembling the form walls is to arrange that the connections of the pivot links of one wall are not opposite the pivot links of the other wall. This is best seen in FIG. 1 where link 46 of wall 52 is shown disposed between but not opposite links 38 and 42 of wall 50. Likewise link 48 is between links 42 and 44. The vibrators 80 are mounted on one wall between the pivotal, links of the opposite wall. By this arrangement of pivots and vibrators it has been found that compaction of the wet concrete is most efficiently and effectively produced.

The ends of the form defined by walls 50 and 52 are closed by gates hingedly mounted on pins 92 and actuated by a cylinder 94 connected to an arm 96 on each gate. The open and closed positions of the gate means is shown in FIGS. 3 and 5. The bottom edges of walls 50, 52 may have resilient seals 98 as in FIG. 6 to provide a close fit to the casting bed surface G.

The casting operation is conducted with the form walls 50, 52 disposed upright and concentrically as shown in FIG. 1. The forms stand on the casting bed G. Reinforcing bars formed into open-work grids are placed between the form walls 50, 52 in appropriate spaced manner. The gates 90 are closed.

Concrete is delivered to the form from above by a distributor head 100 (see FIG. 2) which is caused to sweep back and forth along the length of the form depositing layer after layer of wet concrete in the form. Usually such concrete is provided as a stiff, dry mix of very low flow or fluidity. To insure compaction of its concrete and elimination of voids in the casting 60, the vibrators 80 are operated at high frequency. They impart vibratory forces to the form walls 50, 52 largely between the hard points located adjacent to the connections of the form walls to the links. As filling of the form progresses with compaction occurring universally throughout the concrete mass the upper surface rises until it underlies the sweeping distributor 100. The latter is provided with a trowelling shoe 102 which wipes the concrete and gives it a finish.

Upon completion of filling the forms, the components are to be stripped from the casting 60. Gates 90 are opened and, preferably, form 52 is first moved and withdrawn from the casting by operation of hydraulic link 74 and the action imparted by pivot links 46 and 48. The inner surface of form wall 52 tends to laterally wipe or trowel the contiguous surface of casting 60 and then to a progressive greater degree to retract from that surface toward the withdrawn position shown in FIG. 3. At the same time the operator initiates a vertical lift on platform 13 and beam causing the form walls to rise relative the casting 60. Practical experience has taught that withdrawal of form wall 50 may be delayed until it is raised about one foot from bed G. This tends to stabilize the damp substantially self-supporting casting 60 while the wall 52 is being withdrawn. Then, such a height having been obtained, the operator actuates link 70 and causes wall 50 to separate from the outer surface of the casting which then will stand by itself as it cures and hardens.

The form walls 50, 52 are raised to such a height that they may pass over the casting 60. The vehicle is moved forward a distance to permit the walls to be lowered to the ground 6 again out of contact with the just formed casting. The operation is repeated as described. Under normal conditionsabout 60 precisely shaped castings may be produced in a working day.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and alterations in the size, shape of parts and mechanical elements used may be employed. All such as by an appropriate application of the doctrine of equivalents are contemplated to be embraced by this patent.

What is claimed is:

1. Concrete casting apparatus for the production of ring segments, comprising:

a matching pair of arcuate form walls standing upright in spaced-apart relation on a casting bed;

end closure means to close the end spaces between said form walls;

a frame;

at least one of said form walls being coupled to said frame by pivoted links, the pivoted centers of which are normally radially aligned with the geometric center of a cylinder defined by the related form wall; and

means operable to cause said links to swing transversely from their normal relationship with said geometric center to move the related form wall with a shearing and simultaneous withdrawing action relative the adjacent surface of freshly cast concrete between said form walls.

2. The structure of claim I in which the pivoted links are coupled between said frame and the inner of said f ll 3 f 'l lie gtructure of claim 1 in which both form walls are coupled to said frame by pivoted links.

4. The structure of claim 3 in which the links are progressively longer in the directions of transverse movement.

5. The structure according to claim 1 in which the form walls are concentric of said geometric center.

6. The structure of claim 3 in which one of said form walls is coupled to said frame by an uneven number of links and the other form wall is coupled to said frame by links interposed between pairs of said first mentioned links.

7. The structure according to claim 6 in which the vibratory means is associated with said form walls.

8. The structure of claim 3 in which the means to transversely swing said links is operable to oppositely move said form walls.

9. The structure of claim 1 in which there is vibratory means associated with said walls to aid in compacting fresh concrete placed therebetween.

10. The structure of claim 9 in which the vibratory means associated with one wall coupled to said frame by pivoted links is located between and at the outer sides of said links. 

1. Concrete casting apparatus for the production of ring segments, comprising: a matching pair of arcuate form walls standing upright in spaced-apart relation on a casting bed; end closure means to close the end spaces between said form walls; a frame; at least one of said form walls being coupled to said frame by pivoted links, the pivoted centers of which are normally radially aligned with the geometric center of a cylinder defined by the related form wall; and means operable to cause said links to swing transversely from their normal relationship with said geometric center to move the related form wall with a shearing and simultaneous withdrawing action relative the adjacent surface of freshly cast concrete between said form walls.
 1. Concrete casting apparatus for the production of ring segments, comprising: a matching pair of arcuate form walls standing upright in spaced-apart relation on a casting bed; end closure means to close the end spaces between said form walls; a frame; at least one of said form walls being coupled to said frame by pivoted links, the pivoted centers of which are normally radially aligned with the geometric center of a cylinder defined by the related form wall; and means operable to cause said links to swing transversely from their normal relationship with said geometric center to move the related form wall with a shearing and simultaneous withdrawing action relative the adjacent surface of freshly cast concrete between said form walls.
 2. The structure of claim 1 in which the pivoted links are coupled between said frame and the inner of said form walls.
 3. The structure of claim 1 in which both form walls are coupled to said frame by pivoted links.
 4. The structure of claim 3 in which the links are progressively longer in the directions of transverse movement.
 5. The structure according to claim 1 in which the form walls are concentric of said geometric center.
 6. The structure of claim 3 in which one of said form walls is coupled to said frame by an uneven number of links and the other form wall is coupled to said frame by links interposed between pairs of said first mentioned links.
 7. The structure according to claim 6 in which the vibratory means is associated with said form walls.
 8. The structure of claim 3 in which the means to transversely swing said links is operable to oppositely move said form walls.
 89. The structure of claim 1 in which there is vibratory means associated with said walls to aid in compacting fresh concrete placed therebetween. 